31A

Good to see what you've been up to Russ - looking good!

Thank you Peter, I'm glad you like it. I agree, the J15 is a lovely little model and with a very good mechanism as well, the slow speed running is second to none. It is not without one or two slight niggles but what model is. I omitted to mention that I filed some metal off the chassis block to lower the body slightly, which helps disguise the join in the lower part of the boiler. I did think about re-drilling the holes for the boiler handrail knobs to make them perpendicular to the boiler, but decided that was a job too far for this time! You're right about choosing the right starting model. This one was R3230. Starting with an LNER livery version meant the lower cab roof could be retained for this model. If I had got a Westinghouse fitted one I would not have needed to add the pipework along the footplate angle; having said that I think my version has come out quite well! From looking at pictures of the real ones, it seemed I was restricted as to which 'Covered Wagon' I could make it by the tender underframe - in this case the model has the oval slots in the frame whereas others have the D-shaped cut outs. Also, some seem to have had the shorter chimneys fitted, which the Hornby model doesn't cater for as far as I know. Anyway, it was a nice little project to do. I think three J15s is probably enough - for now!

Just to round off the "Covered Wagon" saga, the front numberplate arrived today; a beautiful 3D printed transfer from Railtec Transfers. I had already put a crew in the cab. A lot of the 4mm scale figures I tried were too tall to fit under the cab roof, so the driver is an HO scale figure from Noch, and the fireman is from the Preiser "Seated Industrial Workers" set. In reality the cab is so enclosed that the crew is hardly visible. I didn't glaze the cab side windows as the photos I found of the real locos showed them to be left open. I presume in reality they slid forwards to open. I did glaze the tender cab's windows. I was tempted to leave the loco in ex-Works condition as per the earlier phots, but in the end I did apply some fairly restrained weathering. Here's a threesome; each one subtly different:

Earlier this morning, on a day of weather in complete contrast to yesterday's, 68026 was in Platform 2 at York prior to setting off with 1U43 1203 York-Scarborough. As you say, it seems to be on 1948 Scarborough-Manchester this evening.

Thank you Chris, they look beautiful! I'm looking forward to receiving mine.

I caught 1U39 myself yesterday, for a valedictory run from York to Scarborough and then back on the same set as far as Leeds. It was a lovely sunny day in Scarborough yesterday! The coach I rode in on the way back gave a noticeably smoother ride than the one I'd gone on!

Grand Central advertised the facility to pay on the train when they started, and still do. LNER (for example) don't penalise people who have boarded without a ticket - many times I have heard the LNER guard ask a ticketless passenger whether they have a railcard, and given a discount to those who have.

It's not a "law" - Grand Central offer the facility to pay on board, and always have done: https://www.grandcentralrail.com/tickets/train-fares-policy

Or a working one: https://www.dartcastings.co.uk/mjt/2821.php

It was great to see you both and thanks for coming round. It's always interesting when somebody else operates the layout; they sometimes find different ways of doing things and expose flaws I wasn't aware of, but in this case probably my fault for not explaining the instructions fully! Enjoy the rest of your stay, and please come again if you're passing.

Thanks Jonathan, that's a nice picture of one, not on the Stour Valley line but being a Really Useful Engine at Bury St. Edmunds!

They seemed to be altogether quite impressed! 🤣

That seems to be a common reaction from 'locals' in mainland Europe! My one journey on an Alvra set so far has been from Chur to Filisur a few years ago. Myself and two friends got in the observation section before the train set off; there were a few other 'tourists' in there already (some American girls I seem to remember). We opened the windows as one is evidently expect to do, from the design of them. The other Tourists hadn't realised you could do that, but thought it was a Good Thing and followed suit. Just before departure time, an elderly local couple with their shopping got in the observation section, and promptly closed the windows! And looked daggers at anyone who looked as though they might open them again. The whole of the rest of the train has non-opening windows! Being therefore unable to open the windows we tried to enjoy the journey looking through glass, but I thought the central, longitudinal seat layout in that section didn't lend itself to enjoying the view as much as conventional fore and aft seats in the rest of the train, as your view of the foreground is just a blurred vision of it speeding past you, and you can't enjoy the view of where you're heading towards (or have come from).

Thank you Barry, glad you and John enjoyed it! It was good having you over to visit.

Thanks Chris, I will look forward to that! Cheers, Steve

Gilbert did say "some of the larger stations are instantly recognisable", but in taking note of that, I did find myself on Darlington station a few evenings ago en route from Bishop Auckland to York and was thinking how unchanged it was on a dark November evening, albeit nowadays very clean and smart, and as such fit for the 21st century with very modern information displays etc. It still has a proper Station Buffet too, which seems to be a vanishing facility! Obviously the acrid smoke from the steam engines has gone, but from within the train shed much seemed unchanged. Slightly surprising that they still haven't found a use for the plinth that "Locomotion" and "Derwent" stood on until nearly 50 years ago! I am always impressed by Newcastle Central, not least by the fact that it dates from 1850 when railways were in their infancy, only a few years really after the Stockton & Darlington and the Liverpool & Manchester Railways opened, yet has been fit for purpose ever since, and indeed remained so after the construction of the King Edward Bridge which could hardly have been foreseen when it was built. Perhaps it could be said to have set the pattern for so many stations which followed.

Did anyone take any photos of the specimens on display at Warley?

I think the remaining GN buildings at Newark North Gate and Retford stations retain quite a bit of the original 'atmosphere' (if that's the word); Retford on the Up side and Newark on the Down side, where the original buildings remain. Newark is much busier than it would have been in the past in terms of passenger numbers but also in terms of train movements as there would have been no Lincoln trains from there in steam days, and the Anglo Scottish trains call hourly as well as the 2-hourly York trains. Further north, Berwick station is very nicely preserved, having been rebuilt by the LNER in the Grouping period, and I suspect probably looks much as it always has (?) as the loco depot and main yards etc. were at Tweedmouth on the other side of the viaduct.

I think the signals visible are the junction signals for Starbeck North Junction; the one on the left which is pulled off is for the route towards Harrogate (the line which is still open) and the right hand one would have been for the curve towards Bilton Junction, joining the Harrogate-Ripon-Northallerton ("Leeds Northern') line there. The Leeds Northern closed to passengers in March 1967 but Starbeck to Ripon and Melmerby remained open freight only until 1969. As the gates are across the line, quite possibly the box was indeed switched out. Even if Harrogate-Northallerton was still open to passengers when the photo was taken, I doubt whether the Starbeck-Bilton Jn. curve had any passenger trains by then anyway.

I think weighing machines on stations were usually red.

Nice hybrid DMU!

And congratulations to @Jesse Sim !!

Hi Tony, I hope we can agree to differ on this! What I did wasn't difficult; the steps just needed a little taking off the leading edge, and the corners trimming as below - not really visible when the loco is on the rails: To me the Hornby wheel actually looks better; at least the centre is flush right across with a 'dimple' in the centre as per the real thing, whereas the replacements on your 61175 have a prominent ring in the centre, presumably the axle end and the end of the insulating bush. The outer edge of the Hornby wheels looks thicker if you paint the wheel, as you then 'lose' the bright edge of the tyre. I find Hornby bogie wheels perform more reliably on my layout than Gibson ones; the track is a mixture of Peco Code 75 flat bottom and bull head. Markits ones aren't always easy to get! I did fit Gibson bogie wheels to a Black 5 a while ago and it led to all sorts of problems. To get it to stay on the rails I put a soft coil spring on the centre of the bogie but this upset the loco's centre of balance (the rear driving axle is sprung) so I had to add weight at the front to get its tractive effort back to where it was before! I haven't done it again as I decided it was too much effort for a very small gain.

I also have laid the track on my layout with a minimum radius of 36", but I think the curved parts of Peco Double Slips are sharper than that - about 30"?

Regarding front footsteps, I've sometimes had to resort to some subterfuge, the Hornby B1 being a case in point. I removed some material from the leading edge of the step (where it butts up against the buffer beam) and also chamfered the inner rear edge of the lower step, so that it just clears the front bogie wheel on curves. The loco will now go round the sharpest curves on my layout, which are the curved sides ob Peco Code 75 Double Slips. I don't know how similar this would be to a "Nelson", but of note, the B1s footplate tapers inwards towards the buffer beam so the steps are closer together than they might be on some locos. Hopefully this is not too noticeable!